In 2012, the European Festivals Association (EFA) celebrates its 60th anniversary. As one of the actions, EFA brings together Communication, PR and Marketing Experts of major European festivals in a new Working Group “Communicating Festivals – Communicating Europe”. The first meeting on 1 July 2011 in Brussels at the European House for Culture kicked-off the exchange with a focus on the use of digital and social media in festivals. The second meeting will take place on 16 December 2011. Festivals are outstanding meeting platforms. They address the most diverse people. Better than any other cultural platform, they can communicate with people and reach out. The format ‘festival’ requires a very specific expertise and application due to a festivals’ limited time, space, partnerships… It sometimes is even misused as a pure communication and marketing tool. The Working Group “Communicating Festivals – Communicating Europe” is composed of a diverse group of renowned festivals and festival organisations in Europe. It is a platform to exchange on current applications and recent innovations in communication and marketing tools applied specifically in festivals on the one hand; and to reflect on the challenges and the future of communicating festivals and communicating Europe on the other. What’s more, this new Working Group of chosen communication and marketing experts is invited to set up – together with EFA – a joint PR and communication campaign for the EFA anniversary activities in 2012: to provide feedback and input to 2012 initiatives contributing to the shaping as well as implementation of the communication campaign in the framework of festivals. At the occasion of the 60th anniversary, EFA, together with its partners, aims to explore the contribution festivals can and will make to cultural, social and economic development. The activities will enhance the development of the partnerships between festivals around the world and how Europe can contribute to the process: the Association will demonstrate what festivals have meant to Europe in the 60 years since EFA was founded, and what they can mean to Europe and the wider world in the future.